proa

See also: Proa

English

Alternative forms

• parao, perahu, prahu, prau, prow

Etymology

From Malay perau, a variant of perahu. In some forms via Portuguese parão or Dutch prauw; in some forms assimilated to prow.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹəʊ.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹoʊ.ə/
• Rhymes: -əʊə

Noun

proa (plural proas)

1. A sailing vessel found in the waters of Micronesia and Indonesia; it has a single, large outrigger and a triangular sail.
   • 1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XXII, [1]

     I noticed that on the sea were numerous fantastically shaped canoes—or rather boats—like Malay proas, or the canoes used by many of the South Sea islanders.

   • 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 231:

     Malay ‘prahu’ or proa were said to be more than a match for British vessels.

Translations

sailing vessel

• Dutch: prauw (nl) m or f
• French: prao (fr) m
• Indonesian: perahu (id)
• Malay: perahu (ms)

Anagrams

• Paro, prao, rapo, roap

Asturian

Noun

proa f (plural proes)

1. alternative form of proba

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈpɾu.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈpɾo.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈpɾo.a]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

proa f (plural proes)

1. prow, bow (front part of a ship)

   Antonym: popa

Further reading

• “proa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “proa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “proa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “proa”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chamorro

Noun

proa

1. a traditional sailing outrigger boat of the Chamorro
2. prow, bow (front part of a ship)

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

proa m (plural proas)

1. alternative spelling of prao

Further reading

• “proa”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• prao

Galician

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra)

Latin prōra

Galician proa

Inherited from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).

Noun

proa f (plural proas)

1. bow, prow (front of a boat or ship)

   Antonym: popa

Further reading

• “proa”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Etymology 2

Verb

proa

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of proer:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin proba.

Noun

proa f (plural [please provide])

1. test, experiment
2. proof

Occitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpru.ɒ/

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

proa f (plural pruas)

1. bow, prow

Antonyms

• popa

Portuguese

proa

Etymology

From Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra), related to pro (“beginning, forward”). Compare Spanish proa, French proue.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾo.ɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾo.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾo.ɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾo(w).ɐ/

• Hyphenation: pro‧a

Noun

proa f (plural proas)

1. (nautical) bow, prow (front of a boat or ship)

   Synonym: vante

   Antonym: popa

Derived terms

• aproar
• figura de proa
• proeiro

Further reading

• “proa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “prôa” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “proa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Sardinian

Verb

proa

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of pròere

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish proda, from Vulgar Latin *prōda, from Latin prōra (via dissimilation), borrowed from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-, form of *por-. Compare Italian proda.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾoa/ [ˈpɾo.a]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: pro‧a

Noun

proa f (plural proas)

1. (nautical) bow, prow (front of a boat or ship)

   Antonym: popa

   • 1877, Benito Pérez Galdós, Gloria:

     En aquel momento el pobre Plantagenet volvió la proa a Noroeste, y hundió toda la popa en el agua.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• buena proa
• de popa a proa
• figurón de proa
• mascarón de proa
• mastelero de proa
• miras de proa
• poner la proa
• proa de violín
• viento de proa

Related terms

• proel (adjective, near the prow)

References

• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1985), “proa”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[2] (in Spanish), volume IV (Me–Re), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 657

Further reading

• “proa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• prowa

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra)

Latin prōra

Vulgar Latin *prōda

Old Spanish proda

Spanish proabor.

Tagalog proa

Borrowed from Spanish proa, from Old Spanish proda, from Vulgar Latin *prōda, from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾoa/ [ˈpɾoː.wɐ]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: pro‧a

Noun

proa (Baybayin spelling ᜉ᜔ᜇᜓᜏ) (nautical)

1. prow; bow; front part of a vessel

   Synonym: duong

Further reading

• “prowa”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018